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by valkyriered



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:08:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24486406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valkyriered/pseuds/valkyriered
Summary: a little drabble about the relationship between Rin and Shigure, and a quiet moment between them.
Relationships: Sohma Rin & Sohma Shigure
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





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**Author's Note:**

> I found this mini-fic tucked away in a file and decided to post it. this is pretty old so i cleaned it up a bit. i have some more recent rin and shigure fics in the work currently that will probably deviate a bit from this one in terms of characterization, so be aware of that difference.

Shigure’s house isn’t home, but she sleeps there anyways. 

When his house was a mess, before Tohru, she’d sleep on the mats in his office when she was feeling ill. Her back turned away from the sunny window, lulled to sleep by the quiet scratch of his pen. He was lonely too, and it dulled the ache in her heart to the point where it was almost bearable. He didn’t say anything when she stumbled to the bathroom to vomit, but he would silently hand her his tea so she could wash the taste out of her mouth afterwards. 

She would sleep in his bed, sometimes, with a pillow pressed to her stomach so it didn’t hurt so badly. He would never climb into bed with her— he’d sleep in a different room, but if she got in when he was there he didn’t make her leave. Instead, he’d roll over so there would be extra room. He didn’t touch her. They’re still like siblings more than anything, even after everything she’d done and said. Still, the smell of him and his bed was familiar, and felt safe enough. When she had nightmares or cried out, he’d wake her up with a sharp nudge. Chide her for waking him up.

But he never made her leave.

When she got sick at his house, he’d always carried her to his own bed, put her in there and wrap a blanket around her. It’s disorienting to wake up in Tohru’s bed the one time it happens, familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. She’s sure it’s because there are other people in the house, but it still hurts. 

He no longer holds her if she cries, but that’s not his job anymore. He needs to be cold in order to protect himself and his position with ‘god’, and she recognizes the way he carefully protects his heart. She wonders if maybe they could have been closer (the way Haru is with Kisa) but Shigure’s been too hurt to ever be that sweet with her. 

Watching him be kind to Tohru makes her ache, but she know she hasn’t earned that. She’s been too cold, too mean, and she and Shigure are too honest with each other to have such a sweet innocence. 

Tohru can be sweet, and she’ll continue being ugly and dark and mean. She keeps her shoes on in his house and plays the role, not even trying to imitate her. If she tried and failed, it would hurt so much more. At least this way, Rin deserves the callousness with which he treats her. Tohru softens people, and Rin has always done the opposite.

She doesn’t sleep at his house anymore— it’s too light and warm and clean. The windows are always open, and it’s always full of people. Tohru’s friends, other Jyuunishi. It’s agonizing. She wants Shigure to be lonely again so they can hurt together. She still comes around, though. During the day, when the children are at school. She’ll lay around in his office while he writes, quietly talk to him until he tells her that she’s being distracting and they both lapse into silence. 

‘Do you hate me?’

‘Don’t be stupid.’ Shigure says, but he doesn’t answer the question. 

She visits him on a cool day at the beginning of Spring, when she knows the children will be away. They talk for a while and drink tea while she flips through some of Shigure's books. She doesn’t plan on falling asleep this time, but she does, sitting up slumped against the wall. She’s woken by the sound of Shigure getting to his feet and closing the windows. It’s dark in the room now, and cold from the night. She doesn’t hear any other noises in the house, so maybe the children have gone out. She doesn’t move, but stays still with her eyes shut, willing the peacefulness to last a little longer. She doesn’t want to go back to Kagura’s yet, face questions about where she’s been or why she wasn’t in school. 

She’s surprised by the sound of Shigure drawing closer, and then his hands on her side, gently lifting her with a quiet noise in the back of his throat. Nobody’s held her like this in so long. Shigure’s only ever carried her when she was a child, or when she was sick. She lets him carry her through the dark house, her face pressed against his yukata. The familiar path, down the hall, to his room. Into his bed. 

He wraps the blanket around her like he always has. And then carefully, gently, brushes a kiss against the crown of her head. Murmurs against her hair. “I know you’re not sleeping.” He brushes a strand out of her face. “If you want to stay here, all you need to do is ask.” 

She stays silent, pretends to still be asleep. 

He straightens, and she hears him walk out the door, and gently shut it behind him as though she were really sleeping.


End file.
